Lady Gaga has been the most followed person on Twitter since August 2010, when she surpassed Britney Spears. John Ricard/Corbis

March 7, 2012

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Lady Gaga made Twitter history this month by becoming the first person to amass 20 million followers or "Tweeps" (twitter + people) on the micro-blogging juggernaut. What accounts for her unrivaled popularity? Social media analyst Stewart Townsend tells BBC News that Gaga is "active, she participates, she listens, she engages." And unlike many other celebrities, Gaga reportedly writes her own tweets. Here, a numerical breakdown of the pop superstar's Twitter dominance:

20,255,774Followers of @ladygaga as of Wednesday morning. Gaga's most recent tweet, from March 3: "Did ANYONE see SPRINGSTEEN on Fallon last night!!! Buy his new album. It is so genius its hard to even believe. Just mind-blowing passion."

18,172,319Followers of @justinbieber, making the young singer the second most popular person on Twitter

15,814,599Followers of @katyperry, Twitter's third most popular account